


Foreshadowed

by dreamwriteremmy (ehryniewi)



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Backstory, Carlos Backstory, Carlos is Afro-Peruvian, Episode: e055 The University of What It Is, Gen, Headcanon, Inspired by Music, The University of What It Is's Scientific focus is "Weird Science" but they just call it "Science", idk what im doing, nontraditional education, post-episode: e055: The University of What It Is, this was a better theory in my head, weird spanish, will probably be reworked later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-22
Updated: 2014-10-22
Packaged: 2018-02-22 04:44:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2494937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ehryniewi/pseuds/dreamwriteremmy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Time is broken but the University of What It Is has many questions and few answers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Foreshadowed

Dr. Sylvia Kayali studies the University's few files that remain on Carlos.

Carlos was always a little strange, even by absent-minded professor standards. He didn't really fit in and tended to be awkward at best, but his enthusiasm was contagious and he had a way of viewing things that were fascinating at best.

That didn't mean he wasn't good at what he did, though. If there was anything the University of What It Is knew, it was that Carlos was one of their finest scientists.  His thesis from undergrad and his grad school dissertation both underlined his singlemindedness when it came to theories about whatever Science was currently piquing his interest. After all, in both cases, he fired his initial faculty councils when they tried to refute his theories and replaced them.[1]

Once he'd gained a position as faculty at the university, it became clear that he was brilliant at picking out just the right students to pursue the most fantastic rumors the University wanted to study.

So, when he volunteered himself to go on sabbatical and lead a handpicked research team to study the Rumors about the little desert town of Night Vale, no one questioned it. Most of the tenured staff knew that once Carlos set his mind on something, usually there was no turning back.

It's fascinating a little looking at his file. Though the thing she pulls out next is the dream journal. One of the things that makes The University of What It Is unique is its acceptance of less scientific ways of examining science. But it's been scientifically proven by experience that the law of attraction works and that's why they use it, even if dreams aren't strictly considered scientific yet.

She's a little fascinated by the sheer scope of his journal. So many fascinating and weird dreams. So many flips as to what he is looking into.

Then she pulls some of Carlos's reports and proposals (the ones that in the last decade have come less and less frequently and that are largely illegible thanks to Night Vale's government-sanctioned censorship) and compares them to the journal. 

Some of the more fantastic theories that she can deduce from the reports  nearly match the journal's content though the order is out of sync and she's not sure which timeline to go by. But Cecil did mention that time was broken in Night Vale.

There's a doodle in the middle of a door and the phrase "déjame ver detrás de la puerta que hay al otro lao". She googles the phrasing and a YouTube video pops up and she grins as she listens to the singer's weird Spanish talk about doors, birds and love [2]. She's pretty sure she's heard Carlos sing this song before.

She needs to ask Cecil some more questions. She picks up the phone and calls the NVCR line and hopes she can get through.

**Author's Note:**

> [1]There are apparently non-traditional colleges that do this in the US (This was mildly inspired by a story I heard from an older adult in Real-Life). It strikes me as a very Carlos way of looking at advanced education levels.
> 
> [2] Susana Baca's [Detrás de la puerta (Behind the Door)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF9QK6YQXd0) ([lyrics + translation](http://www.susanabaca.com/lyrics.php))


End file.
